expand(1) [bsd man page]

EXPAND(1)						      General Commands Manual							 EXPAND(1)

NAME

       expand, unexpand - expand tabs to spaces, and vice versa

SYNOPSIS

       expand [ -tabstop ] [ -tab1,tab2,...,tabn ] [ file ...  ]
       unexpand [ -a ] [ file ...  ]

DESCRIPTION

       Expand processes the named files or the standard input writing the standard output with tabs changed into blanks.  Backspace characters are
       preserved into the output and decrement the column count for tab calculations.  Expand is useful for pre-processing character files (before
       sorting, looking at specific columns, etc.) that contain tabs.

       If  a  single  tabstop  argument is given, then tabs are set tabstop spaces apart instead of the default 8.  If multiple tabstops are given
       then the tabs are set at those specific columns.

       Unexpand puts tabs back into the data from the standard input or the named files and writes the result on the standard output.  By default,
       only  leading  blanks and tabs are reconverted to maximal strings of tabs.  If the -a option is given, then tabs are inserted whenever they
       would compress the resultant file by replacing two or more characters.

4th Berkeley Distribution					    May 9, 1986 							 EXPAND(1)

EXPAND(1)						    BSD General Commands Manual 						 EXPAND(1)

NAME

     expand, unexpand -- expand tabs to spaces, and vice versa

SYNOPSIS

     expand [-t tab1,tab2,...,tabn] [file ...]
     unexpand [-a | -t tab1,tab2,...,tabn] [file ...]

DESCRIPTION

     The expand utility processes the named files or the standard input writing the standard output with tabs changed into blanks.  Backspace
     characters are preserved into the output and decrement the column count for tab calculations.  The expand utility is useful for pre-process-
     ing character files (before sorting, looking at specific columns, etc.) that contain tabs.

     The unexpand utility puts tabs back into the data from the standard input or the named files and writes the result on the standard output.

     The following options are available:

     -a      (unexpand only.)  By default, only leading blanks and tabs are reconverted to maximal strings of tabs.  If the -a option is given,
	     then tabs are inserted whenever they would compress the resultant file by replacing two or more characters.

     -t tab1,tab2,...,tabn
	     Set tab stops at column positions tab1, tab2, ..., tabn.  If only a single number is given, tab stops are set that number of column
	     positions apart instead of the default number of 8.

ENVIRONMENT

     The LANG, LC_ALL and LC_CTYPE environment variables affect the execution of expand and unexpand as described in environ(7).

EXIT STATUS

     The expand and unexpand utilities exit 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.

STANDARDS

     The expand and unexpand utilities conform to IEEE Std 1003.1-2001 (``POSIX.1'').

HISTORY

     The expand command appeared in 3.0BSD.

BSD
								 October 13, 2006							       BSD